This sounds more impressive that it actually is. If we defined being nice as a religious practice, then you could not be nice without religion.

Good point. And if we defined "believing in Jesus" as "having a sex with a monkey", then you couldn't believe in Jesus without having a sex with a monkey.

LOL

You believe medicine can be practiced that violates scientific principles? or ??

Where does "being nice to one another" come from? Where was that learned? Where did morality and treating people with caring and respect originate? I would think a good portion of it orginated in the teachings of religion. Although I could be wrong as I've never really looked into it.

You never really looked into it but you want to give the credit to religion? Why?

I'm not giving the credit to Religion. I was asking. Hence the question mark. I was guessing, hence the caveat about never looking into it.

You could've ended your post with question marks. Instead, you went on and made some assumption...while admitting you never looked into it.

Wow, nitty much? My lord. I said I had never looked into, I asked questions, I threw in the assumption so that people saw where I was coming from.

Do you have an answer or are you just going to nit pick?

I can tell from experience that being good has nothing to do with religion. I know many atheists who are good because that's what makes them feel good.

I could have made THAT conclusion all by myself. My question is what is the origin of that moral code? Where did it begin? Was Religion responsible for the teachings that lead to people being "good people" even if they themselves don't feel like they learned it there.

It's common it other social animals.

That doesn't prove anything about humans. Can someone give me some place that morality and "goodness" comes from other than religion? And again, I'm certainly open to hearing about. I haven't in any way made up my mind as to where it comes from.

World is full of examples of what happens when you do evil things to people and good deeds to others. They could also learn from experience. Like when they steal something from someone, see how the owner felt when he lost it and that made them feel terrible. Or maybe they helped someone, saw how happy it made others and it made them feel good. You can use common sense and see how they can learn from experience and by seeing the world. Why would you think they need a book or an old priest telling them what is good?

It does prove that it doesn't need religion to arise even in less intelligent species.
Your claim has now become .. elephants can do it but people need religion to do it.

I don't buy this. The only reason it would make someone feel good to do something good would be because they themselves have been taught some sort of moral code. There are many, many people that it feels good to do evil things.

And I'm not saying that a person necessarily got the moral code from reading or being taught specifically from Religion in this life. Maybe they got it from their Mother or Father who in turn got it from religion. Maybe they have been in a family full of atheists for 10 generations but the 11th generation was religious and got their moral code there and passed it down.

Maybe they come from an entire line of atheists but they still learned about Religion and the moral teachings there and took that to heart to teach their kids.

Or, maybe the origin is something else. My feeling is that much of the morality has come from the teachings of Religion. That doesn't mean that the people that have learned and lived that morality are Religious.

So, Goodie, paint a picture of the human world BEFORE religion. You think the Chinese civilization became "good" after they discovered about religion? What kind of people do you guess they were before then?

For you to have a feeling that morality came from religion, you must have some view on what the world is like before religion.

No, it hasn't. I am asking for an alternative. And I'm not necessarily just talking about being "good" to one another. There are certainly things beyond our control such as human feelings and closeness that cause us to be good to certain people or learn goodness from certain people. I'm talking about a Moral code. Where does the moral code of good people orginally come from?

From the need to survive and bring happiness to yourself and your family and friends?

You seriously can't think of any reason for people to be good other than because a book told them so? Since you are not religious, you must know that those religious books were written by men. Where do you think they got the code from? Common sense maybe?

I don't care what happened before religion. What I'm asking is where the morality came from in this world, after religion. I'm not, in any way, saying that it's absolutely necessary to have "Religion" per se to teach morality. What I'm asking is whether or not religion is responsible for much of the morality of good people that are currently living.

Where does that need come from?

You have your own answer. Stop and read it.

No. exactly the opposite.
Religion asks you to set aside your moral code and follow .. xyz.

No, read carefully. Someone that commits murder and causes havic their entire life might still have closeness and be "good" to their Mother. That's not what I'm talking about at all.

If you take it all as gospel, maybe. But there are very moral teachings that teach a good and moral code in many religions. What, if not that, is responsible for much of the moral code in the world today?